Masking Your Tears
by orangesky3
Summary: AU. In which Mukuro, being the heir to his uncle, Daemon Spade, is required to "eliminate" a threat to the family. And yet, when he does... Rated T for murder.


A/N: My second entry for the Angst Contest! :D

Pairing: 10069/ByakuranxMukuro

Genre: Tragedy/Angst (I think)

Words: 2,423

Prompt: Facade

Saa, please enjoy! :)

* * *

"Mukuro, a word with you."

Upon hearing his uncle and legal guardian call him, the ten-year-old boy looked up from where he had been reading by the window in his uncle's study that overlooked the gardens and turned to his uncle.

"Yes, uncle Daemon?"

Daemon Spade chuckled at the dark curiosity and anticipation that flickered in his nephew's red and blue eyes.

"Nufufufu... You do know that we have a meeting of families tomorrow night, right?"

Mukuro nodded, unable to help the curiosity that shone through his usually unreadable eyes.

"This time, I have an assignment for you to carry out, my dear nephew."

Mukuro nodded once more, this time a bit slowly, wondering exactly where to his uncle was leading him.

"The heir to the Gesso family has finally been chosen. I expect you to be able to... eliminate him." Daemon's eyes were hard and cold.

Mukuro's eyes widened for a fraction of a millisecond before turning back to their normal, unreadable state, albeit rather shakily. "...Eliminate him?"

Daemon nodded. "The Gesso family is a relatively young family, but it poses a threat to ours. I expect you to be able to cut out the threat tomorrow night. Understood?"

Mukuro nodded, eyes flickering, unsure of and uncomfortable with the idea.

The cold that had been glaring through the older man's eyes receded, and his expression changed to that of a friendlier smile. "Very well, you are dismissed."

Mukuro gave a light bow before disappearing from his uncle's study and to his room.

As he walked off through the many familiar hallways and staircases, he allowed himself to get lost in thought. Although his uncle did look rather polite and even friendly, albeit sometimes strange, to outsiders, he knew better than that. He knew perfectly well that it was all nothing but a facade, a mask that tricked potential victims and pawns to lay their trust on him...and later be used by him.

What frustrated him was the fact that there was nothing much he could do about it.

Even though he was strong and one of the most powerful heirs in the history of his family, he knew that he could never stand a chance against his uncle, Daemon Spade. That is, until his uncle died...

Shaking his head, Mukuro went on, but he still had one thing clearly imprinted on his mind:

When Daemon died and he could take over, he was definitely going to change this whole twisted system.

~PAGE BREAK~PAGE BREAK~PAGE BREAK~

Daemon watched his nephew disappear from his study before he went over to the window that Mukuro had previously occupied, looking out over the grounds of his estate, his mind whirring with numerous thoughts.

He was, to be completely honest, rather expectant of his nephew, who was turning out to be a very promising heir for the legacy of his family. He chuckled a little at the thought. Mukuro was quite talented, and he was quickly advancing in trickery as well. After all, he _was_ the nephew of Daemon Spade, after all. It would be a shame if he hadn't been any better.

Of course, if the heir turned out to be not quite beneficial to his intents, he could always be replaced as well.

Daemon Spade was still a rather young man, and he was perfectly capable of snaring any woman he desired, which meant that he still had a means for another heir should Mukuro fail. Even if that "if" was a very big "if", he would never put his whole family on a single gamble, oh no.

The elimination of the heir to the Gesso, he decided, would not only be a benefit to the family as a whole, but it could also turn out to be a test to see if his heir was a good enough pawn for him.

Daemon couldn't help it. He laughed outright at how his choice of action could bring such succulent fruit to himself.

After all, he had no intention at all of ever allowing even the slimmest of chances to endanger the system that he had set up for this family...

~PAGE BREAK~PAGE BREAK~PAGE BREAK~

Once he had stepped into his spacious room and had closed the door, Mukuro walked out onto the balcony in his room and lightly leapt up onto the banister.(A trick that he had taught himself. Daemon would never teach him anything but what was essential for an heir.) Once he had settled down comfortably enough, he got lost in thought once more.

He was rather uncomfortable with the idea that he had to kill another person. Fight someone, yes. Trick them into oblivion, yes. But..._murder_? Mukuro frowned slightly.

He could, of course, just refuse and lie to uncle Daemon that he had failed. But then, that could end up in disaster, since Daemon Spade wasn't very tolerant of mistakes. He could even be kicked out from the position as heir, which would be a failure to his plan even before it started.

He would just have to kill the heir, even if it killed him...

Mukuro closed his eyes and sighed, before he went back to his room, picked up the handgun that lay on the coffee table in the room, and went out for target practice.

He could not afford to fail tomorrow night.

~10069~10069~10069~

The next evening found Mukuro and Daemon in the entrance hall of the estate, where Mukuro was being introduced to the few new people that were in the gathering. Before long, the people were now in the main part of the mansion, and Mukuro was finally introduced to his "assignment":

"Mukuro," Daemon said. "I'd like you to meet Byakuran, the heir to the Gesso family."

Mukuro bowed at the other boy in front of him. "It's a pleasure to meet you...Byakuran," he said silkily. His face was set in the small, confident looking smile that was always there as a mask.

The other bowed as well. "The pleasure is mine, Mukuro-kun~"

Mukuro studied the other in front of him curiously. The boy appeared to be about ten or eleven - about his age - and yet had pure white hair. Which was strangely adequate, considering that his name meant "white iris" in Japanese... even though why his name might be in Japanese was completely beyond him. The other looked quite friendly as well, but Mukuro knew better than that. He refused to lower his guard and stayed alert, although on the outside, he looked completely at ease to the point of almost casual.

The darker haired boy smiled. "Kufufufu... I suppose that it is a pleasure for both of us to have met today."

Byakuran nodded happily. "I suppose so, too. Very well, then," here, his closed eyes opened to reveal glinting, lilac eyes before closing once more in a smile, "shall we go and enjoy some of the foods? They do look quite wonderful~"

Mukuro smiled, nodded, and walked off with Byakuran, but not before sharing a quick look with Daemon and nodding, feeling the gun that rested in its hidden holster on his hip.

~10069~10069~10069~

Later, Byakuran and Mukuro found themselves on one of the many balconies in the mansion, Mukuro sitting on the banister, Byakuran leaning his back on it and tilting his head back to look up at Mukuro. They were silent for a while, the white haired one smiling with his eyes closed, Mukuro staying quiet with a confident smile, almost a smirk, on his face. At length, Byakuran opened his eyes and said, still smiling:

"Your guardian hates me, doesn't he?"

"Eh?" For a moment, Mukuro's eyes flashed with shock before he composed himself quickly. However, he failed to hide the flash of emotion from Byakuran's observant eyes.

"Heh~ So I suppose I'm right, then?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Mukuro said. "Your family is an ally with mine, so it would be unreasonable for him to keep such an emotion pointed towards you."

"Hmm?" Byakuran looked directly into Mukuro's eyes, daring him to lie once more. "Do you really think so?"

Mukuro looked back, although inwardly he flinched. It was true, after all...

"Yes," he said, keeping up his confident mask, if only barely. "I do."

They stared at each other for a while longer, before Byakuran's eyes closed once more in his bright, friendly smile. "Hm, all right~"

A smile flickered across Mukuro's lips before he looked out at the gardens once more. In the misty, moonlit night, they seemed to have a mysterious shroud upon them and were much more beautiful then in the day. The two boys just looked out at the gardens, each lost in their own thoughts, before presently Mukuro leapt down from the banister lightly and told Byakuran that he would "go and get some drinks." That being said, he walked out of the balcony and back down to the main hall of the mansion and picked up two glasses of punch, before he noticed his uncle gesturing slightly, calling him over. When Mukuro came up to him, Daemon Spade murmured in his heir's ear:

"Are you going to complete my assignment?"

Mukuro nodded and whispered back, "I was just going to do it right now once I go back, uncle Daemon."

Daemon nodded, and smiled. "Good, good." With that, he turned back to the other people around him and resumed talking while Mukuro slipped away back to the balcony.

Once he had arrived, he quietly set down the two glasses and pulled the gun from its holster and pointed it at Byakuran. He put a single slim index finger on the trigger and was going to pull, and yet...

He faltered for a moment.

_I can't._

Mukuro shook his head. He had to do this, and yet...

_I just..._

_Shut up._ Mukuro growled inwardly to himself before raising the gun once more and aiming at Byakuran's back.

"Gomen, Byakuran..." He murmured in his mother tongue. "I wish I didn't have to do this...but I have to."

With that, he tightened his grip on the trigger...

And pulled.

~10069~10069~10069~

When Mukuro was gone from the balcony, Byakuran resumed looking out at the misty grounds, mind whirring furiously.

_Mukuro..._

The other boy was interesting, to say the least, to the white haired boy. He looked quite confident and at ease, almost to the point of casualness, but Byakuran wasn't planning on taking any chances. He knew how dangerous Mukuro's guardian, Daemon Spade, could be - he had heard enough from snatches of conversations between his own father and other heads of other families - and he also knew that Spade would definitely have an influence on Mukuro.

Byakuran sighed softly. When he had tried Mukuro with a fact that he was sure that the other would know as well as he did, he had not missed the flicker of surprise that had gone through the other's red and blue eyes.

_I suppose I'll have to watch my back even more carefully, huh._

The white haired boy was so lost in thought that he completely missed the sound of two glasses being carefully put down on the floor. He only broke off from his thoughts when he heard the quiet voice of Mukuro.

"Gomen, Byakuran...I wish I didn't have to do this...but I have to."

Byakuran's eyes widened slightly before he closed them once more and smiled in defeat.

_I knew it. Mukuro was nothing more than an illusion. A facade._

_But still..._

_It would have been nice to be friends..._

That was when the bullet embedded itself in between his shoulder blades.

Pain.

Betrayal.

Sadness.

It all followed him as he fell from the shot.

He could hear hurried footsteps come towards him.

_No, don't come.._

It was, of course, no use. He could feel someone falling to his (or her) kneew, and then the warmth of the other's hands clasping around his own, and also...

_Tears?_

"Gomen, Byakuran..."

It was Mukuro. Byakuran opened his lilac eyes and looked up into the other's multicolored ones before smiling in genuine.

"Daijoubu, Mukuro-kun... I only wish that we could have been friends later on..."

He could feel his consciousness slipping away, along with his eyesight.

"Byakuran.."

He smiled, before pulling the other's hands towards himself and lightly placing his lips on them.

"Sayonara, Mukuro-kun.."

His eyes closed, and the last trace of all false friendliness, along with his life, faded off into oblivion.

Mukuro stared in shock at the blood that stained the other's body, at the soft, regretful smile on his lips.

He had killed a boy.

A boy who was only his own age.

And yet he was still smiling, his only regret being that they couldn't be friends...

Mukuro's eyes clenched shut as he bowed his head over the other's fast cooling hand, still clasped in his own warm ones. For the first time since he had been adopted by his uncle, Daemon Spade, Rokudo Mukuro allowed his mask of self-confidence and casualness to slip off and let hot tears roll down his face in its place.

* * *

...I know. I don't know where the prompt went either.

I hope it was sad enough! :D Please review~ Reviews are the stuff that keep me from depression! XD


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